Reading Picture Books

Every morning when I take Ammon to school Brandon used to cry and be so sad. One of the ways we cheered him up was to have Jeff read him one of his favorite books while I went. Well now it is a part of our everyday routine. We have also added it at 6pm when Jeff gets home from work (if I am still making diner and I need the boys out of my hair). It has really helped Brandon to embrace "reading". He loves books now. He has some that are his favorites and will ask to have them read over and over and over again. Here are the top three:

3. There's an Alligator Under my bed by Mercer Mayer

2. 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle

1. Five Little Monkeys Wash the Car by Eileen Christelow

Sandpaper Letters

I have worked in a Montessori preschool before and I just love the Montessori style of teaching. If you ever look up the cool tools they have http://www.alisonsmontessori.com/ you would love it.

I bought these sandpaper letters for my preschoolers. You rub your finger over them and add another sense into learning the letters. Unfortunately Brandon just wanted to take them in and out of the box. Oh well ...baby steps ...I guess.

The next thing I want from the site are the world and country hard puzzle maps!! They are amazing!!

Holiday Cards

Jeff's mom always sends the boys really cool cards in the mail every Holiday. The boys love getting something addressed to them and love playing with them too. I know there have been sometimes when we did not say thank you .....so here is a shout out to Gram.....
"thank you for always sending us holiday cards we love them!" Love ~ Ammon and Brandon

P.S. Thanks to A.J. for the cards as well!!!!!

The Joy of Music

I really think music is magic. It sooths my crazy mind when nothing else can.

I love when Jeff will sit down and play his favorite song Pachabel Cannon. He has it memorized. If you heard him play it you would think he completely knew how to play the piano but he just has memorized a few songs. In fact he tricked me into thinking he was a piano player when we were dating. Anyways....thanks for letting me take this picture of you Jeff. I love you.

Cookies

I hadn't eaten sugar treats for 8 days. Then I was asked to make cookies for two different activities and who can make cookies without eating one bite of cookie dough? Especially when your three year old is downing it.

"Curse you Cookies!"

So maybe a better expectation for the holidays would be one sugar day a week. I'll have to think about it.

Brandon's Big Boy Bed

For a long time Brandon has been sneaking out of his toddler bed and climbing into bed with Ammon each night. We moved his bed in Ammon's room but no change. Ammon did not like this very much. He was being kicked and squished. Jeff's parents had a bed they were not using so they brought it up for Brandon to use. Thanks Gram and Papa!

Big Helpers

After Brandon's first nap in his new bed.

Halloween Festivities

Here is the rundown on an entire week of festivities.

• School carnival: The boys loved the petting zoo and the HUGE blown up slide and obstacle course. They could have done it all night.
• Three class parties
• Trick or Treating at Jeff's work
• Trick or Treating Halloween night: Jeff's parents came for Halloween night. I especially loved watching Jeff's mom as her face lit up watching the boys trick or treat door to door.

Walking to school carnival

The boys absolutely loved their costumes this year! They wanted them the minute they saw them at costco two months ago. I loved the comments we got at all the activities we went to. Like "Oh we're safe now, S.W.A.T. is here" or "They ran that way! Go get them!"

I just love how happy the boys were this year. Every past Halloween we have been trying to get Ammon to have fun but he would cry because of all the walking, or tiredness, etc. This year he was pulling us along.!!!

It's official Ammon's Growing Up

Ammon has finally lost his first tooth. It has been loose for almost a month now. He did not like mom trying to pull it out every night when he brushed his teeth. He was scared because he thought it would hurt really bad, but was happy it came out by its self when he was eating Halloween candy. So it's official Ammon is now a big boy. Hee Hee.